After buying Yahoo for nearly $5 billion, Verizon is now in the search business

It’s now official: Verizon is buying Yahoo for roughly $4.8 billion. The deal includes most of Yahoo’s assets, though not the Alibaba shares or Yahoo Japan and several other assets.

Verizon acquired AOL in 2015 for more than $4 billion and now will need to merge and integrate the two companies’ assets and infrastructure. That will reportedly be done under the leadership of Marni Walden, EVP and president of the product innovation and new businesses organization at Verizon. She will have her work cut out for her. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is expected to depart with a $50 million-plus package.

Verizon’s AOL unit is responsible for most of Microsoft’s display, mobile and video ads in the US and several other international markets. Yahoo has search deals with both Microsoft and Google. And with Gemini, Verizon is now in the (mobile) search business.

Yahoo is also the third-largest US internet property, behind Google and Facebook. The fact that Verizon is also a wireless carrier and ISP now makes it a potentially formidable player in the world of digital content distribution and advertising — mobile in particular.